Sheet-delivery mechanism for printing-presses.



G. C. LEOV. SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19. 1916. 1 21 MM Patentefi Jan. 9, 1917.

2 SHE ETS-SHEET I.

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SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I9. I916.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A WUWHEL n smarts PATENT oration.

GEOBGE C. LEOV, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN AUTOMATIC PRESS COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALI- FOBNIA.

SHEET-DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

' Patented Jan. 9, 1911?.

Application filed July 19, 1916. I Serial No. 110,091.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it, known that I, GEORGE C. Lnov, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Delivery Mechanism for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to what I shall for convenience term a sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses. I say for convenience, owing to the fact that the invention was primarily designed for conducting away from a cylinder or equivalent a printed sheet for delivery to a jogger box or other element. It is conceivable that the mechanism can be used with advantage in other arts whether the articles handled by it are in sheet form 01' other character.

Among the objects of the invention are the provision of a Structure of the kind noted which is efiicient and accurate in action.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification I have shown in detail one convenient form of embodiment of the invention which will be set forth fully in the following description to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. As will be clear I do not restrict myself to this disclosure; I may depart therefrom in several respects within the scope of the invention defined by the claims following said description.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 7 is a top plan view of sheet delivery mechanism involving the invention, theecylinder of a printing press also appearing. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive are diagrams illustrative of the operation.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

As I have already observed delivery mechanism embodying the invention is usable in several arts, although the same is of especial utility when incorporated in or forming part of a printing press. Such a press may be of any suitable kind. In Letters Patent No. 843,535 to J. W. Hoag of February 5, 1907 for a printing press and to which reference may be had, is a bodily reciprocative cylinder, and the delivery mechanism constituting the subject matter of the present case is represented as operatively assoc ated with this type of cylinder. The delivery mechanism comprises in its make up what may be broadly considered as a primary carrier and a secondary carrier, the primary carrier receiving the sheet from the cylinder and delivering it to the secondary carrier and the latter in turn passing the sheet, or it may be any other suitable article, into the jogger box or analogous receiving member. These two carriers have a reciprocative movement with each other and also with the cylinder. They are both preferably of endless form; for instance they may consist of tapes as common in printing presses and other machines. The earners or primary and secondary sets of tapes overlap, the discharge ends of the tapes of the primary set extending between the receiving-ends of the secondary set as more or less common in the printing art. In the present case on the forward stroke of the delivery mechanism the first or primary set of tapes is rapidly operated, the second set during this time remaining at rest or stationary. 0n the back stroke of the delivery mechanism both sets of tapes are operated at the same speed. With the foregoing general statements I will now refer in detail to the various views.

The numeral 2 denotes a cylinder which not only is rotative but which has a bodily reciprocative movement. It is shown for example in Figs. 3 and 5 at the end of its forward stroke, and in Figs. 4: and 6 at the end of its back or retractive movement. This impression cylinder 2 may be mounted and operated as will be inferred, exactly like the impression cylinder illustrated and described in the Letters Patent hereinbefore identified. It has the usual crossheads connected by a bracket as 3.

The delivery mechanism involves in its make-up a frame or body member as 4, the framing of the press being provided with suitable ways to receive the frame 4; for reciprocative movement. I have not shown the frame of the press but have shown. side members 5 and 6 constituting a part thereof. The frame 4 supports near one-end the shaft 7 equipped with the roller 8, said frame at -a point removed from the shaft 7 being furnished with a second shaft, both shafts as will be understood being rotative. Attached to the second shaft are wheels 10 spaced laterally from each other and connected as by the tapes 11 with the roller 8. This set of tapes 11 constitutes the first set or a suitable main carrier. The frame 4 is equipped between the two shafts 7 and 8 with a third rotary shaft 12, to which are fastened the rollers 13 located respectively between the rollers 10. There is a fourth shaft 14 at the extreme forward end of the frame 4, and to this shaft 14 is attached the roller 15 around which the forward ends of the tapes 16 are passed, the rear ends of the tapes 16 being passed around the rollers 13. It will be perceived that the rear ends of the tapes 16 are between the forward ends of the tapes 11, the upper runs of the two sets of tapes being as shown out of line with each other. As shown the tapes 16 are slightly below the tapes 11. The frame 4 with the two sets of tapes is adapted for detachable connection with the cylinder 2 or with some supporting means therefor, of which the bracket 3 constitutes a part. As shown the frame 4 is furnished with a pivoted hook 17 adapted to engage the stud or pin 18 on the bracket 3. It is shown as being so engaged in Fig. 2. By lifting the hook 17 to disengage it from the pin or catch 18, the frame 4 with the two sets of tapes can be wholly separated from the impression cylinder 2 so as to provide ready access to the form or to the cylinder. This particular detachable relation is quite useful where the form is carried upon a reciprocative bed as in the manner shown in the hereinbefore numbered Letters Patent. There'is cooperative with the impression cylinder 2 a stripper of convenient character, that shown consisting of fingers 19. This stripper, as will be evident, serves its customary function, namely that of positively removing a sheet from the cylinder when printed and directing it or guiding it onto the first set of tapes 11.

I have alluded "to certain actions of the two sets of tapes on the advance and retractive strokes of the delivery mechanism, and any convenient means may be provided for securing the same, although rack and pinion and pawl and ratchet means have been found eminently satisfactory, and I will now describe one form thereof. On the front shaft 9 of the primary carrier made up as will be remembered of the several tapes 11, is loosely mounted a pinion 20 in mesh with the idler pinion 21 rotatively supported by the frame 4. The pinion 21 is located below and in mesh with the rack 22 extending in the line of bodily motion of the two sets of tapes and fastened in'some suitable manner to the side frame member 6. Fastened to the shaft 9 is the ratchet wheel 23 engageable by the pawl 24 pivoted to the adjacent side of the pinion 20. It will be clear that as the cylinder 2 advances or moves toward the right in Figs. 1 and 2, the frame 4 and the two sets of tapes connected therewith move with said cylinder, the movement being bodily. In addition to this the upper runs of the tapes 11 are moved in the direction of the arrows applied to some of them in Fig. 1. It will be remembered that the upper runs of the tapes 11 always feed forward, and

that on the movement bodily of the tapes during the advance or forward movement of the impression cylinder 2, their velocity is greater than on the backward or retractive movement of said cylinder, and this can be obtained by a proper proportion of the gears. The pinion 20 is carried loosely on one end of the shaft 9. Loosely carried by the other end of said shaft is a pinion 25 in mesh with the rack 26 in parallelism with the rack 22, the rack 26 extending longitudinally of and being suitably united with the frame member 5. The is also under the rack 26, and it pivotally supports a pawl 27 cooperative with the ratchet wheel 28 rigid with the shaft 9. The tapes 11 are operated on the forward movement of the cylinder 2 through the primary influence of the rack bar 22, and the ratchet wheel 23 is turned so much faster than the ratchet wheel 28 that although the latter is turning at such time, it is not due to the action of the pawl 27. On the back motion of the cylinder 2 the pinion 25 is turned to effect the revolution of the pawl 27 and therefore, by said pawl 27 the rotation of the ratchet wheel 28, and the consequent forward movement to the tapes as the cylinder moves back. This motion of the tapes, however, is much slower than occurs on the advance of the cylinder. It will be apparent that on the backward stroke of the cylinder the pawl 24 rides idly over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 23 without accomplishing anything.

Loose on the shaft 14 is the pinion 29 in mesh with and located below the teeth of the rack bar 22. F astened to said shaft 14 is the ratchet wheel 30 with which the pawl 31 is cooperative, this pawl being pivotally connected with the pinion 29. The result of.

this is that when the cylinder 2 is advanced, the pawl 31 will ride idly over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 30 without transferring motion, notwithstanding the fact that the pinion be rotating. Owing to this fact the tapes 16 on the forward stroke of the cylinder 2 remain at rest. On the back stroke, however, of the cylinder, the pawl 31 becomes effective for rotating the ratchet wheel 30 and thus the roller 15 to operate the tapes 16 to carry their upper runs in the direction of the arrows applied to several of them. The parts are so proportioned that the speed of the two sets of tapes on the backward pinion 25 movement of the cylinder 2 is the same, although as I have already noted, the tapes 11 are driven at av higher velocity on the forward stroke of the cylinder than during the back stroke thereof, owing to the difference in size of gears, the pinion 20 being smaller than the pinion 25. The pinion 21 being an idler can be of any suitable size. The jogger box is not shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is, however, illustrated in the diagrammatic views on the second sheet, being denoted by 32. After the cylinder takes the sheet from the feed, the printed sheet is not taken from the cylinder until the latter has made a complete rotation, the printed sheet being stripped from the cylinder by the fingers 19 and advanced on the tapes 11 until at the end of the cylinder stroke its front end is at approximately the center line of the rollers 10. It will be understood that the cylinder is not only advancing, but that it is also rotating, the surface speed of the periph ery of the cylinder which is the speed at which the sheet is traveling, being twice the speed of the cylinder. On the advance therefore, of the cylinder, the first set of tapes 11 should be operated at a high velocity and preferably at the same speed as the surface speed of the cylinder.

In Fig. 3 a sheet has been stri ped from the cylinder and fed onto the rst set of tapes which have moved the sheet wholly free of the cylinder. On the back stroke of the cylinder, however, the first set of tapes is slowed down for example by the gearing described, so that their speed is the same as that of the second set of tapes 16 which on the back stroke of the cylinder are being operated. In Fig. 4 which shows the cylinder as having completed its advance movement the sheet has been fed by the first set onto the second set of tapes, both sets as will be understood feeding on said back stroke and the sheet being nearer the delivery end than the receiving end of said second set of tapes. On the second forward movement of the cylinder as shown in Fig. 5, which forward movement is completed in said view, the sheet is brought directly over the jogger box 32 and on the second backward stroke of the cylinder, the second set of tapes is moved from under the sheet which then gravitates into the jogger box as illustrated in Fig. 6. It is necessary on the back stroke that the two sets of tapes should be operated at the same speed as this permits the tapes rolling out from under the sheet and leaves it in a position directly over the jogger box. If the travel of the second set of tapes on the backward stroke of the cylinder were any faster than the travel of the delivery mechanism and the cylinder, the tendency would be to shoot the sheet out beyond the jogger box. It is, therefore, necessary that both sets of tapes on the backward stroke of the cylinder or delivery mechanism be about half the speed at which the first set of tapes is operated on the forward stroke.

The frame 4 is provided with one or more guide reels, three being shown and being denoted by 33, 34 and 35. These reels are supported rotatively by suitable bearings on the sides of the frame 4 and they bear peripherally lightly against the printed sheet. The reels are sanded, and this can be accomplished by covering them with sand-paper. The rough surfaces roll over a freshly printed page without blurring it in any way. In addition to the guide reels 33, 34 and 35 the delivery mechanism may be provided with the usual guides to aid in governing the feed of the sheet. For sake of clearness I have omitted the reels 33 and 35 and the guides in Fi .1. The reels, it will be understood are of a length suflicient to take in a sheet of the maximum width. They may extend completely across the two sets of tapes above the same. Each guide reel consists of separate rollers of comparatively small width coaxial with each other, and while as I intimate they are preferably peripherally roughened they may be made of metal, for instance aluminum, and in this event they will be narrower than when roughened.

I should also note that the strippers 19 are lifted at the back end of the stroke as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 to permit the sheet to be fed onto the cylinder. This is accomplished by means of the roller 36 at the end of an arm attached to the stripper shaft. The roller 36 rides on the cam 37.

What I claim is:

1. Delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary carriers connected together for simultaneous forward and backward movements bodily, and means for effecting a feed movement of one carrier while the other carrier is at rest on one stroke and for effecting feed movements of both carriers on the other stroke.

2. The combination of a bodily reciprocative and rotary impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary carriers connected with said cylinder for simultaneous bodily movement therewith, and means for effecting a feed movement of one carrier while the other carrier is at rest during the advance of the cylinder and for effecting feed movement of both carriers on the backward stroke of the cylinder.

3. The combination of a bodily reciprocai tive and rotative printing press impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the two sets of tapes being mounted for movement together bodily and with the cylinder on the forward and backward movements of said cylinder, the primary set of tapes receiving a sheet from the cylinder and delivering the same to the secondary set of tapes, and means for efiecting a feed movement of the primary set of tapes while the secondary set of tapes is at rest on the advance of the cylinder and for effecting feed movement of both sets of tapes on the back ward stroke of the cylinder.

4. The combination of a bodily reciprocative and rotary printing press impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the two sets of tapes being connected together for movement bodily and being connected -with the cylinder for movement with said cylinder, the primary set of tapes receiving a sheet from the cylinder and delivering the same to the secondary set of tapes, and means for effecting a feed movement of the primary set of tapes while the secondary set of tapes is at rest on the advance of the cylinder and for effecting the feed movement of both sets of tapes on the back stroke of the cylinder.

5. The combination of a bodily reciprocative' and rotary printing press impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the two sets of tapes being mounted for movement together bodily and with the cylinder on the forward and backward movements of said cylinder, the entering ends of the secondary set of tapes being between the delivery ends of the primary set of tapes, the primary set of tapes receiving a sheet from the cylinder and delivering the same to the secondary set of tapes, and means for effecting a feed movement of the primary set of tapes while the secondary set of tapes is at rest on the advance of the cylinder and for effecting feed movement of both sets of tapes on the backward stroke of the cylinder.

6. The combination of a bodily reciprocative and rotary printing press impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the

' two sets of feed tapes being mounted for movement together bodily and with the cylinder on the forward and backward movements of said cylinder, the primary set of tapes receiving a sheet from the cylinder and delivering the same to the secondary set of tapes, means for effecting a feed move ment of the primary set of tapes while the secondary set of tapes is at rest on the advance of the cylinder, and for effecting the feed movement of both sets of tapes on the backward stroke of the cylinder, and means positioned to receive the sheet by gravity from the secondary set of tapes.

7. Delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, two sets of tapes being mounted for movement together bodily, and means for effecting a feed movement of at least one set of tapes on each stroke thereof and for varying the speed of the feed movements on the two strokes.

8. Delivery mechanismcomprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the two sets of feed tapes being mounted for movement together bodily, and means for rapidly moving the primary set of tapes while the secondary set of tapes is at rest on one stroke of the two sets and for effecting the feed movement of both sets of tapes atta lower speed on the return stroke of said se s.

9. The combination of a bodily reciprocative and rotary printing press impression cylinder, delivery mechanism comprising primary and secondary sets of feed tapes, the two sets of tapes being mounted for movement together bodily and with the cylinder on the forward and backward strokes of said cylinder, each set of tapes having a shaft rotative therewith, stationary racks, a pinion in mesh with one of the stationary racks and loose on the shaft of the secondary set of maintain said second set of tapes at rest on' the forward stroke of the cylinder, a pinion in mesh with one of the. racks, a pinion loose on the shaft of the primary set of tapes, in mesh with said last mentioned pinion and provided with a pivoted pawl, a ratchet fixed to the shaft of the primary set of tapes and engageable by said last mentioned pawl, the two last mentioned cooperating pinions with the correlated pawl and ratchet being proportionate and serving to effect a rapid feed movement of the first set of tapes on the advance of the cylinder, a pinion in mesh with the other rack and also loose on the shaft of the second set of tapes and provided with a pawl, a ratchet wheel also loose on the shaft of the second set of tapes to be engaged by the last mentioned pawl to effect a feed movement of the primary set of tapes on the back stroke of the cylinder.

10. The combination of a reciprocatory frame, two sets of tapes supported by the frame for movement therewith, one set of tapes being adapted to deliver sheets onto the other, and peripherally roughened guide reels for the sheets traveling on the tapes, located above said tapes and supported for rotation by said frame at different points in its length.

In testimony whereof I aflix .my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE C. LEOV. Witnesses:

CLAY PETERS, WM. Gmswonn. 

